1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus for checking for the presence or absence of a bunch winding and buldge winding and for inspecting package weight of a package, specifically, a cheese-like package produced by a spun yarn winder and having a large diameter.
2. Prior Art
A cheese-like package is delivered after going through a spinning process, a finishing process and a packaging process in a raw yarn shop. The spinning process includes spinning out and winding, producing a large cheese-like package measuring 300 mm or more in diameter and weighing 12 kg or more by the use a spun yarn winder. This process requires a prolonged period of time for winding. Particularly, the finishing process includes various many items to be performed, requiring its automatization. For this purpose, a yarn end treating apparatus, a package inspection apparatus and a labeling apparatus have been developed as equipment for the finishing process. The yarn end treating apparatus automatically performs surface treatment and bunch winding of a package on a square tray. Especially the bunch winding will serve as a leader to be used when piecing yarn ends of packages to be unwound, and therefore is indispensable for this type of packages. The package inspection apparatus is preferably designed to automatically check the package for at least defective shape, check the presence or absence of the bunch winding, and to check the weight of the package.
As a package bunch winding inspection apparatus a bunch winding inspection apparatus for checking a conic package produced by an automatic winder has been known as is disclosed in Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application No. Sho 63-135532. This inspection apparatus checks for the presence or absence of a bunch winding by comparing with a model data an image photographed by a linear sensor by utilizing the reflection of the light projected from a light source to the bunch winding while the package is rotating. It is conceivable that this conic package bunch winding inspection apparatus can be used for checking cheese-like packages produced by a spun yarn winder.
There is, however, such a problem that the conic package bunch winding inspection apparatus is not usable because of a difference in shape between conic packages produced by the automatic winder and cheese-like packages produced by the spun yarn winder. First, the cheese-like package produced by the spun yarn winder is, practically, too heavy and too large to check while turning the package, and therefore must be checked for the presence or absence of the bunch winding without turning the package. Also, if the contact pressure has been improperly adjusted in the spun yarn winder for winding the cheese-like package, there takes place a bulged package that the package end face of the bobbin swells out in the axial direction. This bulge will disturb an optical inspection to be effected of a bunch winding wound on the bobbin. It will, therefore, become necessary to inspect packages while avoiding a bulged one.
In recent factories using spun yarn winders, a spinning process, finishing process, and palletizing process have been automatized in succession. The automatization of the finishing process will require no inspection engineers for visual inspections and other inspection items. From this the addition of a bulge winding inspection to automatic inspection items of the finishing process has come to be demanded.